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> Spotlight: Director of Career Services Tom Monaco
Spotlight:
Director of Career Services Tom Monaco
Tom Monaco joined the Graduate School of Business Administration as Director of Career Services on October 22. He believes that right now is the perfect time for his arrival – and for alumni to become reconnected with the School – since the Dean and the faculty are judiciously defining priorities and redefining the school. As you would expect, Tom has countless ideas for partnering with students, faculty, and recruiters. Understanding what is already working (and areas that can be strengthened) will help him prioritize and build an action plan from that myriad of ideas. Tom began his time at Fordham by gathering details about who the students are, what the Fordham culture is all about, what our students need from career services, and how we have previously worked with recruiters.
Tom arrives at Fordham with a passion for working with students and nearly 10 years of experience with Columbia Business School. At Columbia, Tom spent three years in Admissions and almost seven as a senior member of the Career Management Center. In Career Services, he counseled students on career development and job search issues and developed recruiting strategies with corporate recruiters. Prior to Columbia, Tom worked in accounting and financial services with Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young) and Bear Stearns Mortgage Capital Corporation.
His plan for Fordham’s career services will involve building bonds with student clubs and alumni at key corporations. This will include working closely with the School’s communications team and their recent efforts toward linking alumni to student clubs (and back to the School). With student clubs, Tom looks forward to expanding educational programming that utilizes our alumni and their firms’ recruiting contacts. After all, Tom says, “Who better to tell a student how to get a job and what skills they need, than someone who was successful in that same job search?” With this goal in mind, within his first three days, Tom met with alumni from a global wealth management firm and a tax services firm.
At Columbia, Tom often saw industries and recruiters who did not understand the value of an MBA. They believed that a smart, driven bachelor’s graduate was essentially the same thing. This is an issue that Tom hopes to confront for Fordham – especially for those non-traditional students who are interested in companies or industries that have failed to appreciate MBAs. He cautions, however, that these students need to face the realities of the marketplace: MBA compensation packages can vary considerably from industry to industry. Another piece of advice Tom has for all students and alumni is to always look for ways you can add value to your company, while at the same time staying on the look out for those projects that will augment your career path and professional development.
The best piece of career and life advice Tom ever received was to “follow your heart, and give voice to your gut, your intuition.” Because of that advice, Tom recently spent two years abroad - though the adventure began as a four month sabbatical from Columbia. Tom’s fascination with international development first led him to volunteer with MondoChallenge in Tanzania. In this role, he used his accounting and business skills to advise AIDS widows on microfinance projects, such as small food or clothing businesses. Tom then accepted a six-month paid position as MondoChallenge’s country manager in Tanzania, where he oversaw all of the volunteers, projects and outreach with other NGOs, the government, and tribal leaders. As you can imagine, this role added a whole new dimension to Tom’s negotiating skills!
“On the side” Tom also taught English as a second language in Tanzania, which is a volunteer role he held for many years in New York where he taught new immigrants at St. Francis Xavier School on West 16th Street. When he completed his time as MondoChallenge country manager, Tom moved to Prague where he taught business English to corporate clients at a private language school. In August, Tom returned home to New York and began his own job search.
Just prior to joining Fordham, Tom was helping his old team at Columbia Business School prepare for and launch the on-campus recruiting season. Columbia Business School’s Assistant Dean of Career Management Regina Resnick said, “Tom has been a wonderful colleague to us at Columbia Business School. Fordham is fortunate to have such a seasoned professional leading their Career Services office.”
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(212) 636-6104.